By Patty Clark
(USA)
Visitor Review:
We’ve been using Lifepacs from K to 3rd and then get into SOS. There is always a temptation to go to another curriculum, especially after being with a group of friends using other curriculum or browsing a homeschool magazine or catalog.
We came to the Lifepac and SOS decision after completely leaving it to the Lord. I feel I’ve prayed hard and heavy and am open to any thing, yet this seems to be the backbone/core of our learning (so we don’t miss anything) and then have fun with dvd’s, online research, fieldtrips, library events, community events, etc…
There is a world of learning opportunities out there that we choose from. For our family I did not want the homeschool to be our god, so we ended up with this easy to use, yet thorough curriculum.
As far as testing, they’ve been averaging two grade levels above. For one child (5th grade) Science and History was much more her style to use Lifepac rather than SOS and she’s doing very well relaxing on the bed reading through the booklets, which are basically textbooks divided into 10 smaller booklets.
My 6th grader does well exclusively with SOS. My 3rd grader transitioned well from Lifepacs to SOS 3rd. My 1st grader is doing well with Lifepac. Next year we’ll start slowly with K Lifepacs for my then 4 yr. old.
For me as a mom of 5 ages 11 down to 3, I need this focused and easy to use text. We adjust throughout the year to each child’s need. We get up around 7, get started around 8 and are done around noon if we’re focused, 2PM the latest.
The kids help each other because they’ve all been through the same curriculum and I sit at the table so I can easily bop back and forth between the kids.
Then it’s lunch and out to the back yard for baseball, hiking or whatever. We just love the outdoors and learning in fun throughout the rest of the day/night!
Many times I’ve thought the grass was greener with other curriculum but I pray for God’s guidance and this is working for us so we’re here! I have friends who keep changing and often times circle back to their original that God lead them to. This is not to say that He may lead us elsewhere, but for now we can use this KJV Christian curriculum, which is very important to our family. Pray hard and then listen. He knows your family and where He wants you to go.
In spite of this, it manages to be difficult because it is written in a way that is NOT user friendly. I think that in the social studies and English SOS intentionally uses big words to hide the lack of academic standards.
While, I will grant, it is easy and takes little prep time, it will more likely deprive your child of an education, than help him excel.
I believe that Christian programs should have the highest, not the lowest, educational standards (remember Daniel was 10x wiser than the other astrologers).
